Abloy: An integrated approach to telecom site security

ABLOY is one of the leading manufacturers of locks, locking systems and architectural hardware in the world. They are also a leading developer in the field of electromechanical locking technology. The company has been providing security locking solutions to telecom companies globally since the early 1970s, with increased presence in the Southeast Asian market since 1987.

With the evolution of the telecommunication industry, the company has also streamlined its product offering and developed new locking solutions using the latest technology available to meet the challenging demands of providing telecommunication services to end users. In this interview, Edward Lee, Business Development Manager for Abloy South East Asia and Alan Goh, Business Development Manager for Abloy OY (Finland) introduce the company, its footprint, products and strategy in relation to their security solutions and services in the telecom tower industry.

TowerXchange: Could you introduce us to Abloy? Which countries are you active in?

We are a Finnish company, and we are a leading manufacturer of electric locking systems and architectural hardware. We develop easy to use locking solutions to satisfy the needs of end users. Abloy has a global presence spanning over 90 countries in all continents. Our presence in Asia is represented by our direct sales offices in China, India and Singapore where Singapore is the regional co-ordinating office for the Southeast Asian market.

TowerXchange: Who are your main clients?

Our main clients are in the high security and infrastructure segment where we provide solutions to professional end users such as banks, government institutions, transport and logistic companies. Essentially, we supply to installations with a wide network of applications including utilities and telecommunications companies. In the telecoms industry we work primarily with the operators. Telecom tower companies is a relatively new concept in Asia for us, although securing telecommunication equipment has been one of our major strengths. The route to market has changed and we look forward to grow as a partner of choice with all telecom tower companies, as we believe we have the technology, know-how and capability to service them.

TowerXchange: What kind of security issues is the region exposed to? And how can Abloy help solving them?

Security issues that our telecom clients usually encounter are related to the size of their operational sites; managing the various groups of people and individuals with access to them. They need to integrate an efficient locking mechanism into their current processes. Often many of these sites are in remote areas and they are subjected to harsh environmental conditions and they need to ensure that these sites are well secured and also when they need to be accessed, they have to be certain that the locks will work when access rights are granted. Over the years, our clients have continued to choose and recommend Abloy as their preferred security locking solution partner.

With regards to remote sites, these are high risk areas and most of these sites hold very expensive and important equipment and consumables that are required to keep the site itself operational. Hence, they are subjected to theft and pilferages with most incidents resulting in loss of fuel, cables, generators and batteries, often rendering the sites non-functional, resulting in performance downtime for the clients. A reliable locking solution, enhanced with technology and process management – which Abloy offers, creates a stronger barrier and resistance for intruders and saboteurs.

TowerXchange: How does the demand for security solutions differ between Asian countries? And between Asia and other regions Abloy serves?

Currently, our primary business clients are telecom companies located in India and Bangladesh. Other countries, where our locks have been deployed in traditional landline installations, such as Philippines, Thailand and Singapore are exploring and starting to move towards the independent towerco model. We understand very well, that every country has their own culture and management processes, and hence we know that it is very important to customise our products and solutions according to our customers’ specific requirements, and not roll out a standardised model across the region.

Most of the sites we serve in Bangladesh are located in remote areas, although we do operate in urban areas as well. In the city there are many options for protecting expensive equipment. For instance, some telecom companies store their equipment in residential areas near the site rather than on it. Remote sites have limited options.

In India, our focus has been on mobile network operators rather than tower companies. A tower company runs a site with two or three network operators, and each of the them contracts us individually to provide a locking solution for their equipment. We are working towards getting tower companies to understand the importance of a consolidated security system, taking into consideration that each tower is likely to have multiple vendors. We are also learning how we can work and collaborate more effectively with tower companies in this region. The opportunity to network with key players in the tower industry through TowerXchange Meetups is hence, extremely useful for us.

TowerXchange: Why have tower companies been slower to adopt your solutions? 

There are probably a couple of reasons. One would be that tower companies are unaware of our solutions, as our brand has traditionally been associated with mechanical locking, although they are highly reliable and secure. We welcome the towercos to experience our high-tech electronic locking solutions. Secondly, towercos currently rely on operators to each adopt a locking solution for their own equipment, whereas we firmly believe that there are many advantages to be enjoyed with a joint approach to site security. We are most willing to discuss further with the towercos and deploy pilot trials with them to understand how they can save on operational costs over a specific period of time and the possibility of monetising their investment in our solutions.

TowerXchange: What are telecom companies typical requirements for site security? 

We offer many different security products for telecom companies, and these are usually tailored to fit the needs of each individual customer. Most of our clients in the telecommunications industry have been purchasing our master key solutions and some are using electronic locking solutions.

Mechanically, Abloy’s patented and controlled key profile with detainer discs technology is bump proof and virtually pick-proof. Our high product quality and reliability is also ideal for harsh environmental conditions. Not forgetting the endless master-keying capabilities from our comprehensive range of locking products that include padlocks, door cylinders, cam-locks, cabinet locks and key deposits.

To further enhance the mechanical solution, our electronic technology known as CLIQ provides more flexibility in key control for infrastructure projects which are geographically dispersed.

CLIQ technology allows for audit trails so you can see events and times of occurrence from all locations. Easy-to-change access rights are based on time and calendar; e.g. enabling cleaners to be automatically granted access only at predetermined times. CLIQ technology provides unique identification for every opening through encrypted communication.

The integration of mechanical and electronic technology is double-checked and secured with Abloy Protec2 CLIQ wherein the CLIQ technology is further tested on top of the mechanical durability and resistance force of our product.

However, if our client wishes to have an immediate communication with various sites, Abloy’s electromechanical locking solution can offer a variety of monitoring signals to inform the security system of the status of the site.

Setting the lock to fail secure is a plus point in terms of power consumption. With this setting, the lock does not consume any power at all unless an authorised user presents his or her card to gain access. As such, our electromechanical lock is “greener” for the environment, creating savings in power consumption versus other locking devices that require constant power supply to them.

Testing standards have been raised and Abloy electromechanical locks are tested not only for their mechanical durability and resistance. The individual electrical components encased in our electromechanical locks are tested as a complete unit under the new EN14846 standard, where a complete test is done instead of testing the component parts separately, thus ensuring the best product life cycle of our electromechanical locks to our customers.

TowerXchange: Did the entrance of towercos in the telecom industry change the way Abloy works? And if so, how?

We understand that telecom companies are divesting their assets to tower companies and we have to adapt our business approach to reach out to attract new clients; namely the towercos. There is likely to be exponential growth and we are quite excited about this. Abloy is ready to ride on the wave of opportunities in this fast developing sector, by partnering closely with towercos to implement the best possible high-tech electronic security locking solution for them